2026 Young ICCA Essay Competition Open for Entries
The 2026 edition of the Young ICCA Essay Competition is now open for entries!
The Young ICCA Essay Competition is a biennial competition organized by Young ICCA, with the support of ICCA. The Competition is open to all practitioners and students below the age of 40 and aims to provide talented young practitioners with a platform to showcase their written advocacy skills. The 2026 winner will be awarded with a speaking slot at the upcoming ICCA Congress in Madrid, which will take place from 12-15 April 2026.
For this edition, we invite you to give a reasoned answer, in a maximum of 3,000 words, to the title question:
“Has technology diminished the human element in arbitration—and should this shift be embraced?”
The winner will be given a speaking slot on the Congress panel entitled “Knowledge and Innovation: Scholarship, AI, and the Future of International Arbitration”, and will receive a Congress registration fee waiver and a reasonable contribution towards travel and hotel accommodation during the Congress. Additionally, the winning essay will be published in the ICCA Congress Series.
All entries will be reviewed by the Young ICCA Essay Competition Committee and a final winner will be selected by the Advisory Committee. The 2026 Young ICCA Essay Competition Committee is composed of Young ICCA Co-Directors Manini Brar, Alex Haden and Chizaram Mbah. The 2026 Advisory Committee is composed of ICCA Governing Board Members Stavros Brekoulakis, Cavinder Bull, Eduardo Damião Gonçalves, Dyalá Jiménez and Stephan Schill.
The deadline for entries is 30 November 2025. Please review the Terms and Conditions carefully before submitting your essay.
Key submission requirements:
- Deadline: 30 November 2025 (23:59 CET)
- Word count: no more than 3,000 words (not including footnotes).
- Entries are collected through a submission form that is available on the Young ICCA website
- Participants may only submit one entry, which must be original work. Co-authored works will be declined.
- Submissions are to be written in the English language.
- Open to all practitioners and students under the age of 40 at the date of entering the competition.
- Entries must be fully anonymised.
- You need not be a member of Young ICCA to participate, but we encourage you to apply for membership and become part of the world’s leading arbitration knowledge and skills network for young practitioners.
If you have any questions about the Young ICCA Essay Competition, please contact us via essaycomp@youngicca.org.